


Witch Cafe

by Kpopnlockit



Category: f(x)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 22:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17030877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kpopnlockit/pseuds/Kpopnlockit
Summary: So, this is a story that I have been working on for a while and will likely be an ongoing project sitting on the back burner. But, I just have so much affection for it. It is very AU, more so than my previous stories. There are also darker themes and characters from multiple groups as recurring characters. Basically, it’s a mess. But it’s my mess. -Admin O





	1. Prologue

You sat in the darkness, your head resting on the tops of your knees. You breath came in short shallow puffs. You squeezed your eyes shut and tried to calm your racing heart. You were scared stiff, too terrified to even look away from the crease of light peeking out from under the closed door. If you couldn’t calm yourself down you would surely get caught.

 

You bit down on your bottom lip, trying to stifle any noise that threatened to erupt from your mouth. You tightened your arms around your folded legs, hoping that the smaller you made yourself, the better your chances of making it out unscathed would be.

 

You could hear the sounds of your mother’s decorative trinkets being thrown around. They smashed to the ground with the musical tinkle of shattered glass. You could hear your father’s voice grow louder with each punctuated crack of splintering picture frames. You were sure that the neighbor’s would be calling the police soon. You could almost hear yourself denying everything as an officer questioned you. No, your father was never this aggressive. No, he never hit your mother. No, your father never hit you. No, the bruises on your arms were from falling off the monkey bars. Yes, you were sure. Your family was picture perfect and nothing bad ever happened in a respectable household such as this. As picture perfect as the photos adorning the floor next to their demolished frames.

 

The soft whimpers of the maids snapped you back to reality. You closed your eyes and tried to blind yourself. You couldn’t deafen yourself though. You tried to lull yourself away from what was occurring outside of your room. You searched for your happy place, but tonight it was refusing to come. Instead you were brought back to fifteen minutes earlier. 

 

You were awake at the first shrill call of your father’s name. Your mother was screaming it. Your eyes popped open at the startling noise. Your body was ready to either run or fight as you bolted upright, your blankets falling off of you. It didn’t even take a second for you to register what was going on. You knew. You always knew.

 

You wished that it would go back to harsh whispers when they thought you were asleep so you could at least pretend you didn’t know. That way you could rise from bed in the morning and smile as if nothing happened, settling back into your happy family dynamic as fake as it was. You could ignore the scabs forming on the cuts from the previous night and the new bandages your mother sported. But at this point they didn’t even try to hide it.

 

You were long used to crawling out of bed to hide in your closet in the middle of the night. You couldn’t even cry about it anymore. You were only seven but your tear reserve had already dried up. So you sat in the dark solitude, trying to create a world where everything was okay in your childish mind. That world was fleeting however. As soon as the next curse was spat or the next crash came, your beautifully crafted bubble was burst. 

 

Suddenly you heard the doorknob to your room turn. Your heart immediately flew into your throat. You could feel the anxiety bloom in your chest and spread to your fingertips. The light switch was flicked on, and the crease of light under the closet door became significantly brighter. Let it be a maid, let it be a maid, you chanted in your head. You could feel the circulation in your hands slow as you balled them into tight fists over your shins. Your breath caught as you tried not to hyperventilate. The fear was constricting your lungs, but you didn’t try to calm your spinning head by breathing in fear of being heard. You could hear your pulse pounding in your ears as footsteps drew closer. The bed was clearly empty, and you instantly regretted not stacking pillows under the blanket to make it look like you were sleeping. You grit your teeth. It was only a matter of time now.

 

A shadow came to rest in the middle of the sliver of light at your feet. You were so petrified that you couldn’t even gasp as the closet door flung open. You looked up into your father’s enraged eyes and still didn’t dare breathe. All you could register was the anger creased into every wrinkle in his face. He grabbed you roughly by the arm and forced you up and out of the closet. You were too scared to even beg him not to.

 

Not giving you a moment to inhale, you were struck across the face. You crumpled like a autumn leaf. Your legs had gone weak with the shock of the blow and the lack of oxygen didn’t help any. He pulled you up again by the shirt. You were immediately greeted by another slap. This time you held your ground, only wavering slightly. You cupped your stinging cheek and felt hot tears burn at the corner of your eyes. “You’re so useless!” He bellowed and shoved you. You fell backwards as he continued, “You think you can hide from me?!” Your mother was now standing in the doorway, watching with a concerned expression. She didn’t move to help you. You knew it was either you or her that would be at the receiving end of your father’s raised hand. She looked like she had enough of that already tonight. “You’re just as useless as your mother!” You returned your attention back to your father. You had no idea what he was talking about, but that didn’t stop him. His shadow descended upon you before his hands did. And still, the tears wouldn’t fall.

 

You gasped, sweat making your pajamas stick to your skin. Your heart slammed against your clavicle as you struggled to fill your lungs with air. As you swiped at the sweat threatening to drip from your brow, you could feel tears burning a trail down your cheeks. The tears had finally come. The seven year old you trembled within your older body. You blinked until your vision wasn’t clouded anymore and refocused. Today was your eighteenth birthday. Today was the day you made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.


	2. Chapter 2

You didn’t expect anything to change. It never did. Even when you got down on your knees and begged. Even when you choked on your tears or could taste the salt from your tears. You knew not to be hopeful.

Still, this was an offer that they needed to consider carefully. It was a risky deal and they would barely gain anything from it. They didn’t need your compliance. They could easily force it from you. But this way they didn’t need to fight with you to get what they wanted. And that was what you were banking on.

After a long moment of silence, they accepted your offer. You knew you had sold your soul. But it was worth the price.

Ͽ

You sat in the library with your headphones in. You had ceased hearing the music a long time ago though. You were too focused. Your eyebrows knit together as you blindly searched for your coffee with your left hand. You almost gave yourself a paper cut on the piles of books and papers scattered across the table before gripping the handle of your mug. You took no notice as you followed the words across your textbook with the pen in your right hand. You could feel the tension in the base of your neck that had accumulated from the hours of having your nose buried in your books. You looked up, not really seeing anything as you stared straight ahead. You rolled your head in a circle before bringing your lips to the edge of the cup and taking a long draw of your lukewarm coffee. You gave a content sigh as the liquid relaxed your esophagus before settling in your stomach. Soon the caffeine would hit your bloodstream and you would be able to concentrate for at least another hour.

You almost dropped your cup as your ear buds were ripped from your ears. You immediately turned on the person who had disturbed you, ready to rip their throat out. Before you could bare your claws, the high-pitched squeal of your friend Victoria’s voice had your ears ringing. “____!” She called far too loudly to be considered acceptable within a library. Luckily, you were in an isolated spot where only the two of you frequently. You could avoid being scolded for now. “____!” Victoria half-shouted again with her arm wrapped around your shoulders. She rubbed her cheek against the top of your head affectionately.

You moved the curtain of her light brown hair from your eyes and found an empty spot to place your mug down on the table. “What?” You asked, a hint of irritation etched in your voice. She ignored your tone and answered, “Tonight’s the talent show. You promised you would come with me.” Damn, was that tonight? She rocked you side to side as you checked your watch. It was already seven-thirty. You glanced at the stacks of books that had taken over the desk and sighed. You hadn’t gotten as far as you wanted to, but a promise was a promise.

You briskly removed Victoria’s grip on you and silently gathered your things. She shrieked in delight as you shoved your papers into your book bag. You couldn’t help but smile at her excitement.

Ͽ

The auditorium was already semi-dark as you and Victoria squeezed past people to get to your seats. She kept squealing and making nasally noises once you were seated. “He’ll be singing!” She said so fast that her Chinese accent came out. “I know.” You whispered quietly in an attempt to get her to pipe down. “Did I mention that he’ll be playing the piano too?!” She said even louder. “I know.” You replied coolly. “Gah! He’s so cute!” Victoria practically shouted. “Unnie!” You said sternly, knowing that the nickname would get her to calm down. She looked at you with wide eyes. You never used the pet name with her. She broke out into a grin.

You were well versed in Victoria’s crush on the music department’s prince. She had first noticed him when they both had tried out for the school’s musical last semester. Being beyond beautiful and knowing how to control her body precisely, Victoria was easily cast as the main female lead. She wasn’t the dance department’s star for no reason. Though he was aiming for the main male lead, Leo was cast as the second male lead. You thought it was a wise choice as the second male lead had more singing parts. Leo was able to put that angelic voice of his to good use in the role. Everyone in the cast grew closer gradually through rehearsals and slowly Victoria fell for his silent but hardworking demeanor. It didn’t hurt that he was tall and handsome either.

You turned to Victoria. “Why didn’t you audition to be in the talent show?” You asked. She removed her eyes from the empty stage and piqued an eyebrow. “I’m busy you know. The dance ensemble is in two weeks.” She answered plainly before gluing her eyes back to the stage. You huffed and leaned back in your seat.

You had been zoning out as you felt yourself crashing from your coffee high. But you knew it was Leo’s turn when Victoria grabbed your arm and shook you violently. You let her squeeze your bicep an iron grip as he played the first notes of “Can’t Be Friends”. You were sure Victoria was going to draw blood from the way she was biting down on her fist. She couldn’t contain her girlish scream when he hit a high note. You would have been horribly embarrassed by her if it weren’t for a few other girls in the crowd screeching along with her. She even went as far as shouting “Oppa!” You covered your face with a hand, pretending like you didn’t exist. You respected Leo in the way he didn’t let his fans’ shrieks deter him as he continued to belt out the song in his soft voice.

Victoria actually stood up and cheered when the stage when dark and Leo walked off with his keyboard. You took your idiot friend by the wrist and led her out of the auditorium before the next performer could start. You had promised to watch Leo and now that he was done, you had no reason to linger. Victoria didn’t mind though. She was still in a state of fangirling. She continued to praise Leo in a garbled mix of Korean and Chinese on the way to her car and throughout the drive to your apartment. You shook your head at her antics. She may have been two years older than you and a constant mom, but she reverted back to a teenage girl when it came to her crush.

You patted the top of her head gently when you pulled to a stop in front of your apartment complex. “Good night.” You said as you unbuckled yourself and pushed the car door open. “See you tomorrow!” She exclaimed as you slammed the door shut. You slung your bag over one shoulder and trotted up the sidewalk. Victoria gave you a honk before zipping off. You didn’t even bother turning back to wave goodbye. She was long gone. The girl drove like she was in the Fast and Furious. You pushed the glass door of the apartment complex open and bounded up the stairs, forgoing the elevator.

You got to your floor and stopped at the top of the stairs as a chill ran down your spine. You gasped harshly at the sense of impending doom that washed over you. You gave a few rapid fire blinks and shuddered. What the hell was that? You shook your head free of the odd feeling and continued down the hallway. You ignored the way your heart picked up speed with every step closer you drew to your apartment. You figured it was the stress of your earlier study marathon catching up with you.

You fished your keys out of the side pocket of your backpack and slowly placed your house key in the keyhole. You hesitantly turned the key as your heart pounded in your ribcage. You clasped a hand over your chest. Something was telling you to turn tail and run. Adrenaline slammed into your veins as you went against your better judgment and swung your apartment door open. Immediately you regretted it.

Your father had pulled a chair from the kitchen table to face the entrance of your apartment. He watched your movements carefully as you stood immobile in the doorway. As always, he wore a crisp black suit paired with a white dress shirt and blue tie. His hair was slicked back in his typical 80s fashion and he hadn’t bothered to take off his dress shoes. Your mother stood behind him, a hand resting on the back of the chair. She was the picture of aged elegance, dressed in pale pink and pearls. He thinning hair was styled into a short but fashionable bob, but she still hadn’t removed that red lipstick from the 90s from her repertoire. Your eyes darted between the two of them as you began to panic. Flashes of your childhood floated through your vision. Your mother screaming at you for not crossing your ankles as you sat at the dinner table and your father slapping you for reading Crime and Punishment in secret flickered in your head before disappearing.

“Bring her in.” You father commanded. Your father’s secretary who you hadn’t realized was standing to your left in the tiny foyer grabbed you by the shoulder. He roughly pushed you into the apartment. You didn’t even have time to react as you stumbled forward, barely managing to stop yourself from falling. You glanced back over your shoulder with your teeth bared in a silent growl. The suit-clad man simply he pushed the door shut and stood in front of it with his arms crossed. You were acutely aware of how your only escape route had been cut off.

“Now…shouldn’t you stop fooling around?” Your father said as he rested his palms on his knees. You slowly turned your attention to him as you regained your composure and stood up straight. You let your bag slid gently to the floor before evenly stating, “This was not part of the deal.” “Something has come up.” He replied. “I didn’t realize you conducted business so flippantly.” You jabbed, not bothering to hide the scorn in your words. That struck a nerve. “That mouth of yours is still smart I see.” He spat with irritation. “And only getting smarter.” You replied with a smug smirk.

“Stop it.” It was now your mother who spoke. More out of habit that anything, you fell silent. “There was a proposal.” She declared. You twitched, your chest tightening. “You have to be kidding me.” You muttered. You were doing everything to keep from hyperventilating as you saw where the conversation was heading. “We agreed on four years.” You stated defiantly, your tremulous inner self distant from the strong façade you were putting on. “The two years we have given you have been ample time for you to goof off.” Your father said. “We agreed on four years.” You repeated more firmly, an edge of steel cutting through your tone.

“He’s from LG.” You mother uselessly added. You kept your eyes on your father. It didn’t matter who he was or what family he came from. This was not part of the deal. “I promised marriage to anyone of your choosing on the condition that I would complete four years of university first.” You said with more conviction than you actually felt. “It has been two years. We can’t wait anymore.” You ignored your mother. You kept your eyes trained on your father. You all knew who held the power here.

“This is an offer we can’t refuse.” Your father held. He leaned back in the chair as if that was all he needed to explain the situation. “We need an heir.” There it was. The sentence that you had engraved into your memory. Any time you had any feelings of self-worth, those words echoed in your head and robbed you of any value in yourself. Though you didn’t want to give that stupid phrase any power over you, you couldn’t help the way hot tears pricked at the corner of your eyes. You had been raised to believe that the only heir needed was a male heir.

“Is this how you conduct business? Going back on your word? No wonder you don’t have any good investors.” You stated tightly, straining to keep your voice from wavering. That got your father to his feet. You refused to give in and stood your ground. He tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes. “What did you say?” He questioned. “The reason you are so desperate to marry me off is because no one wants to have relations with a traitor without having his daughter as collateral.” You answered with venom. Without hesitation, his hand flew out and stuck you hard enough to have you reeling. You staggered backwards a step and cupped your cheek. Your throat began to close off as tears threatened to fall from your wet eyes. You grit your teeth and straightened out, dropping you hand from your face. You knew better than to show any signs of weakness to these people. “Too close to the truth for comfort?” You mocked.

This time it was your mother who took the offensive. “You are a woman!” She shouted as she quickly crossed the distance between the two of you. Her hands wrapped around your throat as she yelled, “Women do not speak like that!” Instantly, your hands were wrapped around her wrists and you wrenched her off of you. You were used to being beat within an inch of death by your parents. You promised yourself that you would be stronger. But it never made it any easier. You couldn’t suppress the tears anymore. Enraged that you had freed yourself from her abuse, your mother weaved a hand into your hair and pulled hard. Your head was tugged backwards with the motion. Your scalp erupted in pain. “You never considered me!” You screeched and reached back, trying to release her grip on your hair. She pulled harder and you knew your attempts were futile. You father smiled at your distress. You cursed and scanned the room for anything at all to help you. You wouldn’t let them have their way. Not this time. You had left a pair of scissors on the dining room table after you finished your poster board for Business Administration. The shining metal caught your eye. Before your father could stop you, you reached out and snatched them. You didn’t think twice before sliding the open blades above where your mother held you.

Snip. You didn’t even register your mother’s screams. All you saw was your father’s horrified face. All you felt was your long strands of hair flutter to the ground as your mother released them. You couldn’t feel the tears streaming down your face. You couldn’t hear the scissors clatter against the floor when you dropped them. “You never considered me as an heir!” You shrieked. The ceramic cups in the kitchen shattered with your cry. Both your parents snapped their head in the direction of the noise. Your father’s secretary ducked into a crouched position. “You never considered me a daughter much less a human being!” You continued and the lights flickered. You could feel the anger that you had bottled slowly leaking from your center. “You beat me instead of raising me!” You yelled as you took a step towards your father. One side of your unevenly cut hair grazed your jaw line and the other fell well past your shoulder. Your father stared at you with a look of terror. “I was a tool and you couldn’t even fucking keep a promise to me because I’m that worthless to you.” You bellowed as the windows blasted inwards, sending shards of glass hurdling at you.

Your mother continued screaming, now curled in a ball on the floor. Your father was no different, kneeling on the floor with his hands over his head so his forearms protected his face. You didn’t even flinch as a piece of glass darted past your temple, tearing the skin open. You turned to the secretary as blood ran down your cheek. He was pinned by the force of the hatred embedded in your face. You scoffed. What a joke. You father didn’t even have it in him to protect his wife. His secretary didn’t have it in him to protect his boss. “Cowards.” You whispered before letting out a beastly roar. At once, all three of them collapsed, going unconscious.


End file.
